Provider - Part 1

 Good morning and happy June!

I have another story for you. This one was written back in March during KDWC, but I didn't get it edited until just a few weeks ago. A few names might be recognized if you are also a KDWCer. :)

Life has been busy here. April and May just flew by! I can't believe it's June already! Time to get ready for another month of writing camp soon. I'm trying to get back into a regular habit of writing. With so much going on, and publishing Kate & Kylie, and another novella (read my post this coming Tuesday on Read Another Page), and yard work, and music practice, and updating my website, and getting two of my books in the process of becoming audios, and reading, and . . . well, you get the picture, I've had a hard time really focusing on writing. But I have started working on a secret project and it's fun. But if you want to know what that is, you'll have to subscribe to my Read Another Page newsletter because I'll only be announcing it there.

Anyway, enjoy this first part!

 

 Provider

Part 1

    It was a dreary day. The clouds had hung low  all day and allowed no sunshine to peek into the dull room of the small apartment. It was a very small apartment. The living room, with two worn out chairs, a small bookshelf, and an old TV tray used as a table between the chairs, ran into the dining room and kitchen. No steps were needed when taking a pan of the stove and putting it in the sink across the room, for they were within reach off each other.
    A small, slightly wobbly card table sat in the corner of the dining room under a window on which the rain pattered and spit. It was here that Heidi sat trying to study in the light of a single bulb. It wasn’t exactly raining, but tiny droplets had been flung intermittently against the window for the past two hours. Even though the temperatures were hovering in the sixties, the girl at the table shivered and pulled her thin sweater closer.
    “If you ate more, maybe you wouldn’t be so cold.” The chiding voice of her brother echoed in her ears.
    Heidi frowned. Even though Joseph had only visited her for two days last week, his words still taunted her. She looked toward the cupboards as her stomach rumbled. “Maybe I should eat.”
    Reluctantly, she rose and looked in the cupboard that she called her pantry. It was almost bare. Some packs of ramen, an almost empty bag of beans and an almost equally empty bag of risc, a can of tuna, and two cans of chicken noodle soup were all that sat on the shelves. Her fridge was equally forlorn in its offerings.
    “Yeah, if I had more money to eat, I’d eat more, Joseph. Trouble is, I don’t have it.”
    Settling on a can of soup because she could study as it heated up, Heidi wearily got her meager supper ready.
    Study was not going well that evening. Nothing she read seemed to stay in her mind. Her supper was hot and helped warm her up, but it didn’t help her headache any.
    “Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow.” She rubbed her aching head and wondered if she should just go to bed and try studying in the morning.   
    “I think I will. Nothing is sticking tonight.”
    Just as Heidi, having gotten ready more slowly than usual, was about to climb into bed, she let out a moan. “The group project! How could I have forgotten that?”
    Wearily she pulled her backpack over, dug through the notebooks and folders until she found the right one, then settled on her bed for another hour or two of work.

    The weather the next morning was just as dreary, if not worse, for instead of just low clouds and intermittent sprinkles, it was drizzling, and the temperatures had dropped.
    Heidi ate her last egg and toasted the last dry piece of bread. She had one energy bar left. It would have to do for her lunch today.
    Before she left her tiny, dingy apartment, she bowed her head. “Dear Father, I need help. You know I don’t have money since I lost that temporary job and had that extra expense of needing to hire a tutor to get through that one class. I’ve tried to find work, but there isn’t anything in this tiny town. Not even at the fast food restaurants. Would you please help me? I read this morning that You are the Provider. You know I don’t know very much about being a Christian, Lord, but I’m trying to learn. Mrs. Almstead said every word in the Bible is true, so I guess that means You are a Provider. I just hope that means for me too. Well, I have to get to class, so please help me learn well. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
    Pulling her hood up, she stepped outside, locked the door behind her, and headed toward campus, her head bent against the damp and dreary drizzle.
    She reached her first class in time and settled down for the lecture. It was one of her favorites, and the material was easy for her to learn.

    By the time noon rolled around, Heidi was feeling light headed and more miserable than she had the evening before. The group project was quickly turning into a “Heidi do it all and everyone else will just argue and do nothing” project, and she wasn’t sure if she should talk to someone about it or not.
    Sitting down at a table in the dining hall, Heidi dug in her backpack and pulled out her energy bar and her water bottle. After bowing her head quickly and thanking the Lord for helping her get through the first part of the day and for something to eat, she took a long drink before opening the package of her energy bar.
    “Hey, are you Heidi Lincoln?” The bright voice belonged to a short girl with a blonde braid and friendly brown eyes.
    “Yes.”
    “Is this seat taken?” The girl sat down almost before Heidi had finished shaking her head. “Mrs. Almstead told me about you. Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Cynthia Grant, but most folks call me Thia.” The girl paused and bowed her head just a moment and then began eating her own lunch as she kept talking. “Aren’t you in Professor Nimms class? I thought I recognized you. Say, are you any good at English Lit? You are? You wouldn’t be willing to tutor me, would you? I’m going to flunk that class if I don’t get help.”
    “Uh, sure.”
    “Great!”
    “Thia!”
    Heidi looked up as three more girls approached the table.
    “Hey! Come join us!” Thia motioned to the empty chairs. “Girls, this is Heidi Lincoln. Heidi, meet Lyds, Cherry, and Ems. Well, those are their nicknames. They are really Lydia, Agape, and Hannah.”
    Heidi smiled and nodded to each one then turned to Thia. “How did–”
    “How did Agape become Cherry and Hannah become Ems? It’s easy really.”
    “So says the girl who comes up with nicknames for almost every person she meets,” Lyds laughed.
    “I can’t help it!” And Thia shrugged. “My mom is always calling people nicknames, and I learned it from her. But Agape is one of the Greek words for love, you know, and Charity is another, and thus she became Cherry.”
    Heidi smiled politely though she was still confused.
 

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